A New Apprentice
by XYLag
Summary: Rewriting story, under the name of The Fox and the Snake
1. Chapter 1

A young Anko walked through the streets of Konoha she had just left the restaurant when she saw a mob chasing a boy through an alley, she recognized him, he was the Kyubi's container, she didn't knew him but she knew that he was shunned by everyone except for a few people, she had though of talking to him, but every time she stopped, she didn't knew what to tell to a boy that was all alone, sure she was alone too, but she at least had friends to support her, even if she had a bad reputation because of being Orochimaru's apprentice.

She kept walking towards her house and unlocked the door entering, she had just acquired it after months of saving and it was rather big, it had three rooms two bathrooms and a nice spacious living room that was annexed with the kitchen, she spent the rest of her day doing nothing but watch tv, it was until she was going to bed that she though again of the little kid she saw earlier, he barely managed to get away from the mob that was following him, but next time he might not be so lucky, all these passed through her mind as she slowly fell asleep.

…

"Come in" The Third said as he raised his gaze from the huge stack of papers he had let gather for the last few days.

Anko stepped inside bowing slightly. "I can come back later if you're busy right now" Anko said looking at all the papers he had on his desk.

"Oh this? Its nothing" he said chuckling sitting down "now tell me, what can I do for you?"

"Uhm, do you know the little blonde kid, the one that everyone ignores?" Anko said scratching her head.

"Naruto? Yes, why? Don't tell me you killed him!" Hizuren said in an alarming tone.

"WHAT!? No, I was just wondering, you know he's all alone and he's ignored by almost everyone, kinda like me…" she said chuckling sadly "…and I though that maybe if its okay I could train him for the academy, and maybe stay at my place."

"I see" Hiruzen said scratching his chin, looking at her for a few moments.

"Well I really don't see why not" Hiruzen finally said giving her a scroll.

"Really? That's it?" Anko asked confused.

"Yep, the address is in there." Hiruzen said with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Okay" Anko said still a bit confused; she left the office and headed over to the address.

"Well, that was unexpected, but maybe its for the good, May god help that kid" Hiruzen though to himself grinning.

"More paperwork Hokage-sama" said the assistance as she entered the office.

"Godammit!" Hiruzen yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

Anko made her way to the address she was given, the place looked pretty messed up, it was dirty and vandalized, most of the apartment's windows were broken, however she continued going up the stairs to the last floor.

"3B" she though as she looked to the overall disgusting look of the place.

She knocked on the door and got no answer, however she heard him on the other side of the door so she knocked again.

"Please go away!" she heard from the other side.

"Come on kid, open the door" she said again trying to sound as nice a possible.

The locked door opened slightly and she managed to see part of the boy's face that stood at the other side.

"Hello Naruto" she said smiling "I'm Anko, can I come in?"

Naruto opened the door slowly allowing her to see the mess of house he had, the windows were broken and had newspapers on them to seal the holes, it was dirty and there were tons of garbage on the floor.

Naruto had a torn jumpsuit and had some scratches on his face and arms and was pretty skinny, not much, but his weight was probably below average.

"Wh- Why are you here? Naruto asked walking backwards slowly.

Anko was taken from her thoughts and sat slowly on the floor.

"Naruto, do you want to become a ninja?" she asked.

He simply nodded in silence.

"Well today's your lucky day, you will have the honor of being my apprentice, and you will become the most kick-ass ninja in the village, after me of course" she said standing up grinning.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Why what?" she asked back confused.

"Why me?" he said.

"Well, I don't know, for some reason I like you" she said walking out the door and looking back at him, you can stay with me at my house, that way its easy for you to stay in touch with me, and for me to keep an eye out for you, I've got two empty bedrooms, that are never used and well, it would be fun" she smiled.

Naruto's eyes opened excitement "Really? Are you sure its not a problem?" he asked getting closer.

"Its quite alright" she said as she walked out of the room "Get everything you need, but, leave the clothes, we'll fix that later."

"Awesome" he said as he started gathering his things. Naruto was very happy, he was always alone, and now he had the chance to stay with her new sensei's house, he had to make sure not to disappoint her.

Naruto packed a few things on a bag and follow Anko out the door.

Naruto walked out and locked the door behind him and started following her new sensei.

"Were are we going?" he asked struggling to keep up with Anko's pace.

"We are going to get you some decent clothes." she said as they walked through the streets, people looking at the pair and murmuring behind their backs.

"Now, here I get all my clothing, we should be able to find something that fits you here" Anko said stepping in

"Anko-chan, what can I do for you today?" said the old lady behind the counter.

"I'm here to get my new apprentice some new clothes." she said signaling Naruto.

"Oh, what a handsome young man, let me see what I have that may suit you" she said going to the back of the store, she returned a few moments later with some boxes full of clothes.

"All right, you can go into those rooms to try the clothes" she said.

Several minutes and lots of clothes later Naruto finally came out from the room with black ANBU style pants and a black long sleeved shirt.

"I think I like this clothes, sensei" Naruto said.

"Good, they look good on you" Anko said " Give me ten of the same in different colors, and put it on my tab"

"Oh, we don't have tabs here, but take them anyways, consider it a gift dear" the old woman said.

"Well thanks, most appreciated" Anko said as she sealed the clothes Naruto chose on a scroll, much to Naruto's amusement.

"I'll teach you to do that later" she said to him patting him on the head as they headed out.

Both of the left the store and went to get something to eat, they entered a good BBQ place Anko went to a lot and they sat on a small table on the corner of the establishment.

"Now, let me explain you how this is going to work" Anko said clearing her throat. "We have two years until the academy starts, yes? But you're on pretty bad shape, I take it you've never practiced before right?" she asked as the food arrived.

"No" Naruto said

"And you don't get too much…food" she continued.

"Sometimes I get instant ramen" he said smiling.

"Yeah…that won't do anymore" she chuckled "you need some real food, were going to get you ready for training with lots of food, so enjoy it while you can, because after that, you won't even have the strength to eat" Anko said grinning sinisterly.

"O- ok" Naruto replied a bit frightened.

"But don't worry, you'll be a hell of a ninja when I'm done with you" she said grabbing a piece of meat from the plate on the center and starting to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

ONE MONTH LATER

Anko woke up slowly as the first rays of the morning sun struck her face from the window, she let out a deep yawn as she forced herself to get up, she sat on the side of the bed for a few minutes scratching her head and stretching her arms, until finally she got up, she went to check on Naruto who had been living with her for a month now, the kid was alright, a bit noisy but nothing she couldn't handle, she took a quick cold water shower to wake up completely and got dressed with her usual training clothes.

"Wake up!" she yelled as she opened Naruto's door and shaking him as he lied in bed "Its time to start you training." She then headed into the living room to get something to drink. Naruto sat on the bed and yawned as he grabbed his clothes and put them on, the last month he really got some tasty food, and he quickly gained some weight, changing from the skinny boy to a good healthy one, not fat however.

He went into the living room and stared at Anko with a still sleepy look, Anko splashed water on his face.

"What was that for!?" Naruto yelled.

"I wanted to make sure you were awake" she said smiling "lets go"

Both of them left the house and walked for a few minutes through the still empty streets, the sun was already out and they could feel its warm, they reached a training camp were they established themselves.

"Alright kid, its time for the real training" she said to Naruto who was sitting cross-legged on the grass "but before teaching you to fight we need to strengthen that lazy body of yours… so, run ten laps around the field, 100 sit ups, 100 push ups, 100 kicks with every leg to the log over there and then 100 punches with every hand, after that another 10 laps, you can do it in the order you want, but you're not leaving this place until you finish" she said as she walked past him.

"What? That's too much, sensei" Naruto said standing up behind her.

"Oh yeah almost forgot" Anko said taking out a scroll and unsealing it, releasing a blue bulky vest and giving it to him. Naruto put it on and Anko pressed her hand on his chest, which made the vest heavier. Naruto gave her a weird look "What? Its only 15 extra pounds, and I'll be increasing it, so do get to comfy with the weight, and I'll ad some wrist and ankle bands when I think you're ready."

Naruto sighed and got to the task at hand…

Nearly six hours passed and Naruto had finished his routine, he was sweating heavily and panting, he looked around for his sensei, and saw her on a nearby tree reading.

"I'm done, Anko-sensei" Naruto said, letting himself fall on his back still struggling for breath, Anko let herself fall in front of him and threw a bottle of water at him "okay, now that the warm up is over, lets get to the real training"

"Warmup?" Naruto said "you're kidding right?"

"Well, not really, but since you finished way before I anticipated, I'll let you loose for the rest of the day, but tomorrow, you better be ready" she said with a very serious face.

"Thank you…sensei" Naruto said with a smile as he got up and sucked all the water from the bottle in matter of seconds.

"Watch it, I don't want you to drown just because you can't handle your thirst" she laughed as she sealed the vest again.

"Well, we now have the rest of the day…so, let's get cleaned up and eat something, what do you say?" she asked gathering his things.

"Sounds good" he replied.

They walked back to her apartment and both of them got cleaned up and changed before leaving.

"Naruto, I want you to go to the library and check out taijutsu styles you feel comfortable with so I can train you better" Anko said as they arrived to the restaurant.

"I can't" Naruto said lowering his head.

"Can't? What do you mean you can't?" Anko asked very seriously.

"They don't let me enter to the library, they threaten to hit me every time I show up."

"WHAT!? Oh, that's complete bullshit come on" Anko yelled as she dragged Naruto out of the restaurant and headed to the library.

"Alright, go on" She said

"They won't let me in" Naruto insisted.

"Trust me" she said with a grin.

Naruto got inside, and just as he predicted the receptionist didn't allowed him to walk inside, but just at that time Anko walked inside.

"Hey what's going on?" Anko said.

"Oh, nothing just taking out the trash" the receptionist said a she dragged Naruto to the front door.

"I hope, you're not referring to my apprentice" Anko said with a killer instinct.

"I-uh-no- of course not, please carry on"

Anko and Naruto stayed there all the afternoon, looking for taijutsu styles, as well as ninjutsu, and thanks to Anko's jonin rank he could see even more material.

"So, any style that strikes your attention?"

"Yeah, this one Hebi no kurōru" said Naruto showing her the book where it was.

"Hmm, The Crawling Snake, I think I can help you with that one" said Anko after letting out a yawn "you know, we should leave, it late, and we haven't eaten yet"

"Ok" said Naruto starting to pick up the books

"Whoa whoa, what are you doing?" asked Anko raising an eyebrow.

"We must put them back from were we took them" Naruto said

"Hell no, let that annoying receptionist do it" said Anko taking the book Naruto wanted and leaving, with him following her closely.

They stopped in a small restaurant that was still open, since it was late, Anko ate, while Naruto had fallen asleep on the bench he was in, making her smile, after finishing she carried him back to her place and left him on his room, before getting inside the bathroom, she let the water of the shower run until it was warmer and stepped in, feeling the pressure of the hot water massage her back, she grabbed her left shoulder were her cursed seal was and gritted her teeth, she got out of the shower and got some panties and a bra and got to bed, trying to ignore the sharp pain on her shoulder.

A thunderstorm got loose during the night, waking Naruto from his peaceful sleep, at first he tried to ignore it, but a loud one finally made him get up, he had been scared of thunder all his life, and living alone in his apartment he had no choice but to suck it up and hope the storm didn't lasted long.

But he wasn't alone anymore, he slowly got out of the room and headed to Anko's room, he peeked inside.

"Anko-san?" Naruto called as he approached her bed.

"Hmm, what is it kid?" she responded half asleep

"There is a thunderstorm, and I wondered if I could…"

"Sleep with me?" Anko said finishing his sentence for him "Sure, come on"

Naruto slipped into her bed "thank you Anko-san" he said as he tried to accommodate himself.

"No worries kid, try and rest, we have much to do in the morning, and you know you don't need to call me –san" she said giving him an over the shoulder look.

"Good night Anko-chan"

Anko smiled "Good night Naruto"


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Anko started training Naruto in taijutsu, he had been all morning practicing the basic stances and movements, all using the weights Anko gave him the day before.

"Good, you're getting the hang of it already" said Anko who was sparring with the kid.

"You think?" Naruto replied trying to regain his breath "It would be easier if the weight didn't slowed me down"

Anko chuckled and moved into stance again, Naruto did the same and they started fighting again.

…

"Well that wasn't too bad, for a beginner, you hit me what, two times?" said Anko lying down on the grass.

"I think" said Naruto taking a sip from his water bottle "what's next?" he asked.

"We need to keep up working on your endurance, you're good but you get tired to fast, come here" Naruto got closer, and Anko did some hand signs before pressing her hand on his vest, which immediately got heavier, Naruto just gave Anko a puppy look trying to make her make it lighter.

"Sorry kid, puppy eyes don't work on me, now go on, the same routine from yesterday." she said with a smile. Naruto exhaled and got to work.

After finishing his exhausting routine Naruto returned to Anko, who was doing pull-ups on a tree. "I'm done Anko-sensei" Naruto said sitting under the shade of the tree Anko was in.

"Very good, now that warm up is over" she looked at him with a grin before continuing "we will continue with chakra control, you know what chakra is don't you?"

Naruto nodded and she continued, "Ok, chakra control, hmm, alright you're going to climb that tree" she said pointing to the same tree she was in"

"Piece of cake" said Naruto who was rushing towards the tree.

"Hold on" said Anko grabbing him from the collar of his shirt stopping the boy. "You're going to do it like this" Anko walked towards the tree and started walking vertically on the tree, and stopped when she was upside down on one of the top branches.

"You need to gather your chakra on the soles of your feet"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes for a bit and then started walking, he gave a few steps before the tree crust shattered, making him fall down.

"Whoa" Naruto muttered looking at Anko.

"You need to use the exact amount of chakra, too little and you won't stick, to much and you'll shatter the crust making you fall." Anko said dropping back to the ground.

"Now go on and take this" she said giving him a kunai "use it to mark the tree when you feel you're falling, we won't leave until you reach the branch I was in" she said sitting down.

The sun was setting, and Anko was sleeping still under the tree when she heard yelling, immediately she got up and readied her weapons, but put them out when she found the source of the yelling.

"Ha, I did it" yelled Naruto from the top of the tree, with the kunai on hand"

"You make me proud, now get down so we can go back" Anko said packing her things.

Naruto jumped down and followed her sensei back to her apartment, all the way with a smile on his face.

…

SIX MONTHS LATER

"Were are we going?" asked Naruto.

"To my favorite place to train" replied Anko with a grin.

They walked for a few minutes until they reached a huge metallic fence "Welcome, Naruto, to training camp 44, better known as The Forest of Death"

Naruto looked at the massive fence before looking back at Anko who appeared to be pleased with his reaction.

Anko opened one of the gates and stepped inside with Naruto, locking the gate from the inside and walked for what appeared to be an endless forest, everything looked the same to Naruto, at least until they reached a clearing.

"All right" said Anko "remember the taijutsu style you wanted to learn?" she asked him removing her overcoat.

"The Crawling Snake, yes" Naruto replied.

"Well you're lucky, cause that's the same style I use, look at my movements" she said before charging at him.

Naruto dodged a series of punches, jumping back creating more space between the two of them, she charged again with an overhead kick that he blocked and responded with a kick to her chest, she ducked and did a sweep with her leg, making his loose his balance, she got close to him and punched him on the chest, making him fall to the ground, she took the opportunity to perform the hand signs.

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, she inhaled and then released a massive fire ball that was moving towards Naruto, he jumped to a nearby tree to avoid the hit, but lost sight of Anko, who appeared behind him and kicked him in the back, Naruto jumped to avoid the hit, and tried to kick her, twisting his body using the momentum to do so, but to his surprise instead of backing up she got closer grabing his leg and chest and pushing him down to the floor, he got up and charged at her, he tried to hit her but every time she dodged at the last moment and got close to him, she started throwing punches and kicks, Naruto wasn't able to handle all of them and fell on his back.

"Yield?" Naruto said as he sat back up.

"So, what did you noticed?" asked Anko hoping he would give the right answer.

"You don't back up, you charge" Naruto said standing back up.

"Well, yes, its not the answer I hoped, but you got the basics of it" Anko said smiling "the thing of the snake style is that you get closer when you are supposed to back up, just like you said, by getting closer to your enemy, he has less options to defend himself, while you can unleash a volley of punches and kicks at them quickly."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, let work in the stance" Anko said getting into position.

Naruto fell to the ground, again defeated by Anko "Dammit" Naruto muttered.

"Hey don't feel bad, it's a hard style to master, your doing pretty good" she said sitting down cross legged.

Naruto got up and into stance, Anko grinned and got up and into stance too "that's the attitude I like"

YEAR LATER

Anko and Naruto had just finished their spar match, and again, as usual Anko won, not that Naruto's skills were bad, she was just, better.

"Alright kid, you've learned the basics, you have good chakra control, your taijutsu and ninjutsu are above average, and that's an understatement, to be able to fight toe to toe with me, well" Anko chuckled at the last remark "I think you're ready for the academy" she said with a smile.

"Thank you Anko" said Naruto as he bowed

"Well kid, academy is still a few months ahead, just keep your skills sharp, and best of lucks" she said giving him a thumbs up and turn around ready to leave.

"Uh, Anko, wait" Naruto said reaching to her.

"What is it kid" Anko asked turning around and placing her hands on her hips.

"I was wondering if I could still live with you at your place, only if you don't mind" he asked hind of ashamed.

"Of course Naruto, what made you think that you'll have to leave?" she said kneeling and placing her hand on his head.

"Come on, let get something to eat" she said as she got up.

* * *

**Alright I think I'm gonna skip the whole academy thing, because I really don't know what I could write about, I'll start at the team making and move from there.**

**Rate the story, tell me what you don't like so maybe I can change it. :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Q/A: jh831 - well you see, I didn't wanted to give much attention to Naruto learning the Kage Bushin, so I just placed it as background, as for Anko being a part of the Interrogation Squad, well I want you all to note that Anko is already a jonin, she'll probably join while Naruto is on a mission or before I get to the chunin exams, but I'll see how I make it fit.**

* * *

Everyone was around Naruto, since they heard how Naruto fought with a chunin level ninja that had turned against the village attempting to steal an important kinjutsu from the vaults and that he would attempt to frame Iruka-sensei after doing so, but Naruto stood to him and beat him by himself, and by helping with that matter the Hokage allowed him to learn any jutsu he wanted from the vault, but no one was sure about the truth of that, all they knew was that Naruto was a hero in the village.

They were trying to get Naruto to tell them what happened, but he said that he couldn't tell them and chuckled.

"Please be quiet" Iruka said as he stepped into the middle of the room "I will announce the top rookie of this generation.

Hearing this everyone sat down and kept quiet, this was what most of them had been waiting, most of them were expecting the top rookie to be Sasuke Uchiha, since well, he was an Uchiha, but some others had prove to be good too.

"The top rookie is, well who would have though…Naruto Uzumaki"

The young Uchiha gave him a death glare while everyone else got close to him to congratulate him.

"Okay, okay, calm down" Iruka said, "Now I will tell you your teams.

And so, Iruka started naming people into their respective teams.

"Team Seven" Iruka began "Hinata Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Naruto Uzumaki, you are to report to room 205 to meet your jonin instructor which is Kakashi Hatake."

All three of them waited for Iruka to finish naming the teams and headed to the instructed room.

"Where the hell is he?" Naruto asked walking in circles across the room.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru said opening one eye and looking at Naruto.

"Y-you should be more patient N-Naruto-kun" said the shy Hinata looking at her desk.

Suddenly the door opening and a white haired man with his face and left eye covered came in.

"You're late" Naruto yelled pointing at him.

"Yeah…" was all he replied with an eye smile "come with me" with that said he motioned them to follow him.

"W-where are we going" Hinata asked.

"You'll see" was all the jonin replied.

They arrive to one of the rooftops of the academy, and they sat in a semi circle around their new sensei.

"So I want you to introduce yourself, like your likes, dislikes hobbies, dreams, that kind of thing"

"Why don't you do it first" Shikamaru said as he rested his head on his hand.

"All right" Kakashi replied lazily "My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes and dislikes are none of your business, I have no hobbies that might interest you and dreams, well I know when I get there."

The trio sweat dropped. "Well now is your turn" Kakashi said pointing at Naruto

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen and training, I don't like people that think that they are better than others, as for my dream I will become the most bass ass Hokage you'll ever know" he finished with his thumb up.

"Hmm, so he's the number one rookie, and he has spirit, he will go far, with proper training.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru said, Kakashi looked at him and signaled him to talk.

Shikamaru exhaled "My name is Shikamaru Nara, I like to sleep, watch the clouds and playing Shougi, I don't like troublesome people or situations that make me struggle, as for my dreams I don't know, I want to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife."

All of them stare at the Nara "That was rather…detailed" Kakashi said eye smiling

"As lazy as every Nara I know" he though "But I guess its okay to have a plan for life, now the last one" Kakashi said as he looked over to Hinata.

"I-uhm my name is Hinata Hyuuga, I like- " she looked over to Naruto and blushed looking away, Kakashi chuckled internally "I don't like people that call others weak"

"Well, well a humble Hyuuga, you don't see that everyday" Kakashi though.

"My hobbies are making medicine and pressing flowers, my dream, I hope to one day have more confidence and become a fair leader on my clan." She said looking at the floor.

"Okay, now, a genin's life is not particulary…glamorous, you'll have to do some demeaning chores, and from time to time you'll get an interesting mission" Kakashi said.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru commented "so what do we have to do today?" he finished.

"Nothing, rest and meet me in training camp 4 at six o'clock sharp, I have an interesting test for you, and one thing, don't take breakfast." He said

"W-why?" Hinata asked

"Because you'll throw up" he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Well that's not nice" Naruto said getting up "You guys wanna get something to eat?" Naruto asked.

"Not me, I have to get home and make my chores or my mother won't leave me alone" Shikamaru said getting up lazily.

"How about you Hinata?"

"I- uh I would like that" she said blushing and looking down.

Hinata and Naruto walked down to the streets in silence, mostly because Hinata didn't talked and Naruto wasn't sure how to start a conversation with her, they were half way to the ramen stand when he heard someone calling behind him.

"Oh great" Naruto said as the Uchiha walked towards them.

"I want to fight you" he said bluntly.

"Maybe some other time" Naruto said smiling trying to be as nice as possible.

"Now!" the Uchiha said grabbing him from the shoulder.

Naruto turned and kick his clean on the chest sending him backwards.

Naruto exhaled "I'm sorry Hinata-chan, maybe we can get that meal later?" he said

"Alright man, you want a fight, I'll give you a fight, come one"

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked to an empty training camp.

"Okay, so taijutsu only?" Naruto asked not sure of how to proceed.

"I can beat you anyway you want" the Uchiha said getting into stance.

"Okay" Naruto though getting to into stance.

Sasuke charged him head on doing an overhead kick, which Naruto easily dodged, but he was kicked on the head when he gave another kick using the momentum of the first sending him to the ground, the Uchiha simply chucked. Naruto got up and got into stance again, waiting for the next attack, Sasuke charged again this time with a sweep, Naruto jumped over him and kicked him on the back sending him forward, Sasuke turned around and gave him a volley of punches which Naruto easily dodged them and using the best of his Snake Style he got close to him and hit him hard on the face before he could Sasuke could recover Naruto kicked him on the stomach and spinning kicked him on the face and twisting his body as if doing a handspring he kicked him again on the chin sending him up.

"What do I do now?" Naruto though quickly as that move had never worked against Anko, he simply jumped and grabbing him from the shoulders he slammed him on the ground and quickly stepped back.

Sasuke got up slowly he had blood coming from his mouth and nose, and he started performing hand seals.

"Hey we agreed only taijutsu!" Naruto yelled at him.

"I don't have to listen to a loser" Sasuke growled.

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu

Naruto jumped over the massive fireball and saw Sasuke jumping towards him, Naruto dodged the blow and landed safely on the other side, and turning around he saw kunai and shuriken flying towards him he dodged most of them but one managed to get him on the leg making him fall to his knee, Sasuke threw another fireball towards him.

Sasuke looked pleased at the small crater that he left with his fireball but his expression quickly changed when he saw three Narutos standing in from of him the three of the charged him, one did a leg sweep making Sasuke loose his balance while other hit him on the face and pushed him, unaware that the was another Naruto behind him Sasuke jumped backwards only to be kicked up by Naruto and then the original jumped and kicked him with the heel on the chest sending him again into the ground.

"He's done for, thanks guys" Naruto said to his clones before they disappeared.

Naruto turned around and started walking away, Sasuke was already on his feet and had a furious look on his face "I'm an elite ninja, I can't loose to the like of him" he though as he reached for his shuriken, and threw them at Naruto, who only heard the clash of metal with metal and turned around to find Anko standing between the two of them.

"You're a disgrace" Anko yelled furious at Sasuke "Attacking a fellow ninja from the back, you'r not only a disgrace to shinobi, but to your clan too" hearing this Sasuke charged furiously at her, she easily grabbed his punch and in turn hit him with full force on the face, knocking him out. "Pathetic" was all she said as she walked to where Naruto was standing.

"That was a good fight" she said smiling and placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I guess" he replied with a grin. "Thanks for the help."

"Oh don't mention it, I was just passing by and decided to look at the match" she said as she left with Naruto.

* * *

**I don't think this chapter was that good, mostly trying to create rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke.**

**For those that might want to know, right now Naruto is 13 and Anko 18, just in case you were curious.**

**Anyway Rate the chapter :P**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto opened his eyes and got out of bed, he looked through the window to see Konoha still in darkness. "Its dark" he though "Well of course is dark, is 5 in the morning" he quickly told himself as he left to the bathroom, he took a quick shower and got dressed, when he was leaving he heard Anko calling him.

"Leaving already?" she asked.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei told us to be ready at six" Naruto replied with a long yawn.

"Your instructor is Kakashi, oh you're gonna have it good" she laughed "Hey I'm leaving for a mission, I'll be gone a few months so I left you some money.

"Okay" Naruto said.

Naruto opened the door and left for the training camp, the streets were quiet, although there were some birds already chirping and the sun was making his appearance from behind the mountains, Naruto decided to run the rest of the way as a warmup.

Naruto arrived at the training camp as instructed, a few minutes later Hinata arrived and lastly Shikamaru, and so they waited, Shikamaru took the time to sleep, while Naruto trained and Hinata watched him, almost three hour later was when their sensei decided to finally arrive.

"Hello" said the masked ninja as he made his way to them.

"You're late again!" yelled Naruto.

"So troublesome" Shikamaru said getting up from his sleep

"I'm sorry, a black cat crossed my path and…" Kakashi didn't finish his sentence because of the death glare that all three of them were giving him.

"Anyways" he coughed " lets start with a simple exercise, here I have two bells, the objective of this exercise is to take the bells from me, if you can't do it…" he said pulling out a bag with three boxes inside "I'll eat your lunch in front of you, isn't this fun?" he said eye smiling while he hooked the bells to his belt.

"You won't be able to take the bells unless you aim to kill, Ready? BEGIN!" The three genin disappeared from sight, leaving Kakashi alone in the middle of the field.

"And now I wait" Kakashi said taking out his book and starting to read it.

* * *

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked to his companions.

"This will be troublesome" Shikamaru said scratching the back of his head "he is a jonin, and he has more experience that all of us combined, but, I think I have and idea" he said with a sly smile.

* * *

"They sure are taking their time" Kakashi though as he walked through the small forest are he was in, when he heard something behind him and ducked, on a tree in front of him where incrusted several kunai and shuriken.

He turned to see Naruto already on stance "That stance… so he was the one Anko was training" Kakashi though getting too into stance.

Naruto charged him throwing several combinations of punches and kicks, which Kakashi easily blocked and dodged, he grabbed his leg and using his weight threw him to the ground. "I've got to admit it, you're abilities are quite good" Kakashi said with a smile beneath his mask, "but alone you're not much of a challenge" as he finished his sentence Hinata jumped from behind him attempting to hit him, Kakashi ducked and jumped backwards getting ready to fight.

"Are you ready?" NAruto asked Hinata who just nodded.

**Kage Bushin no Jutsu** Several clones of Naruto appeared and he threw a smoke bomb, Kakashi waited so the smoke cleared and when it did there were several clones of Hinata and Naruto, they all charged the masked ninja who wasn't realy struggling to keep them off him, but it wasn't easy either one of Hinata's clones hit him full on the face making him back up a little.

Kakashi smiled "I see, so you used your Kage Bushin to clone yourself, ans then used the smoke bombs to Henge them into Hinata, very clever, unfortunately you don't know the gente style of the Hyuga, good strategy but not good enough" while he finished some of Naruto and Hinata's clones charged him he blocked some of the hits when he felt that he couldn't move.

"Kagemane no Jutsu complete" Shikamaru said as he walked out of some bushes as Naruto and Hinata took the bells from him, both with grins of their faces.

"Very good, I assume that you figured the point of the exercise then?" Kakashi asked now able to move.

"Of course, we had no chance of getting the bells on our own, we had to work as a team to get them, how troublesome" Shikamaru said.

Kakashi eye smiled at his team as he walked away "since you're done, you can have the rest of the day, meet me here at noon" Kakashi said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"I hope he teaches us some cool techinques and jutsus" Naruto said as he jumped around the place.

"What a troublesome guy" Shikamaru said sitting on the ground.

Hinata only smiled.

* * *

"This is nice" Naruto said stretching his arms above his head.

"What is?" asked Chouji as he ate another portion of the BBQ in front of him.

"This…" Naruto said signaling all of them "Hanging out"

Since their duties as genin had started they hadn't found the time to hang out, and now all of the Rookie Nine, minus Sasuke were there dining.

Ino and Sakura were talking about…stuff, Shikamaru was looking at the clouds through the window, Shino watched a small beetle crawl up the wall and Naruto was talking to Kiba while Hinata petted Akamaru.

"I tell you, Sasuke needs to get over himself" Kiba said.

"What do you mean?" Shino asked

"He's always rambling about how superior he is, about how he's too good to do menial task, that he should get a real mission, we all want to get more interesting missions, but we don't whine about it, and less in front of the Hokage" Kiba finished waving his hands and taking a bite of a rib in front of him.

"Well we will have our first C-Rank mission tomorrow, we have escort an old guy to the Country of Waves" Naruto said prodly.

"I hope it's not too troublesome" Shikamaru said.

"Everything's trouble for you" Naruto said pointing at him getting a little laugh from everyone.

They finished their meals and said goodbye, Naruo walked back to Anko's place, she still wasn't home.

"I hope she's alright" Naruto though as he had something to eat, nothing too fancy, he ate in silence and after finishing he took a brief shower, he slipped into his pajamas and getting into bed, slowly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning all Team 7 gathered in front of the northern gate to leave with the guy they were supposed to protect, as soon as they were all there they parted to the Country of Waves.

* * *

**So here we start the Land of Waves arc, now it might take me a little while to post the new chapters, this past six part I had them written already, I was only matter of checking them, now I have to write them so...yeah this one was half written, so I just had do add a bit of this and that. I might actually watch the series to see how it develops and se what I might change.**

**Sorry about the lousy fight scene, I'm not good writing action, I'll get better at it, hopefully.**

**The AnkoxNaruto stuff won't start until after the Chunin Exams, more or lesss**

**Anyways rate the chapter and tell me what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

They had been walking for a few hours; it was a nice day, a bit cloudy, ideal for travelling.

The walk had a steady pace, they had all agreed on not stopping until night fall, earning some complaints from the lazy Nara, who every now and then muttered "what a drag" under his breath.

"Uh, Kakashi sensei?" Naruto said, as he got closer to the one eyed jonin and pointing at a small pool of water at the side of the road. "He noticed it" Kakashi though as he nodded in acknowledgement before saying something to his ear, to which Naruto only nodded and moved towards their teammates.

Now two minutes later two figures appeared from nowhere and in a blink hey had surrounded Kakashi with a chain, and pulling it they tear his body to shreds "The first one" said one of the men as they disappear in a blur appearing behind Shikamaru who quickly reacted jumping forward to no avail, they two men caught him too, but before they could pull the chain they felt unable to pull, or move any part of their bodies, to their surprise the boy they had trapped in their chain disappeared in a puff of smoke as well as the small girl that was standing beside their target.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, complete" said Shikamaru as he walked out of some bushes with Kakashi and Hinata who activated her byukugan and with a few hits on the men fell unconscious, allowing Shikamaru to release his jutsu as Kakashi remover their gauntlets and tied the men up.

Tazuna exhaled in relief, as their lives were no longer in peril.

"Good work team" Kakashi said eye smiling at the three young genins.

"H-How did you knew?" The old man asked still trying to calm himself.

"Well, this has been a rather hot season, it is rare to see water on the ground, luckily Naruto noticed it" Kakashi explained.

"I see" Tazuna said before Kakashi signaled him to come closer as he had something to discuss with him.

"G-good work Naruto-kun" Hinata said twiddling with her fingers.

"How troublesome, to get attacked in the middle of the road" Shikamaru said placing his arm behind his head.

Kakashi and Tazuna returned after a few minutes, Kakashi looked a bit worried.

"All right team" Kakashi said clapping his hands to get their attention "this mission changed from a C-Rank to a B-Rank" he said as he adjusted his headband.

The three genin had worried look on their faces, and it was not a surprise a B-Rank mission was intended for chunin and jonins to complete.

"So what are we going to do?" Naruto asked breaking the silence.

"We have no choice but to continue our mission" he said with a sight

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Hinata said almost whispering.

"What a drag" was all Shikamaru comented.

"I'm afraid its our only choice, we need to keep moving" Kakashi said as he started walking.

They kept walking always on high alert, for obvious reasons, the trip however continued without any important event, they had a small fight with a group of bandits, whom they easily dispatched before continuing, soon enough they arrive to a misty shore, there was a man waiting for them already.

"We'll have to make the rest of the way through the water, it's the easiest way to get to port without being noticed" Tazuna said as he got into the boat and greeted the man.

The man did not used the motor of the boat, instead he rowed all the way, there was a thick mist that didn't allowed them to look more that a few meters ahead, so they made their way slowly, careful not to crash to a rock or log that may be surfacing through the dark cold waters.

"What a drag" Shikamaru said trying real hard not to throw up.

"I-I think this is nice" Hinata said as she inspected their surroundings with her byakugan.

"We should be close now" Tazuna said.

And right he was, in no time they passed through a small tunnel, they could see light on the other side; as soon as they came out they were surrounded by blue crystalline waters with a few tree growing there, they made port and continued their way.

"Quite a change of scenery" Naruto said really exited.

Hinata only nodded in agreement, "what a troublesome climate" Shikamaru said exhaling and scratching the back of his head.

"Keep your eyes open" Kakashi said, "We are not there yet.

Everyone nodded and got in positioned around Tazuna and continued walking.

They walked for a few minutes when they heard Kakashi yelling them to get down, they did, barely avoiding the huge sword that had been thrown at them and incrusted on a tree nearly cutting it in two, in a blur a man retrieved the sword and jumped in front of them.

"Stay back!" Kakashi ordered as he readied himself.

"Jejeje, Kakashi of Konoha, I must tell you how pleased I am to finally be able to fight you" the man said with a clear grin under the bandages that covered his mouth "I'm sure you know who I am"

"Yes, Zabuza Momochi, The Demon of the Mist" Kakashi said as he reached onto his headband and pulled it up, revealing his hidden eye, which was red.

"So, that's the infamous sharingan." Zabuza said taking a few steps back as a heavy mist formed around them "I'm honored that you consider me enough threat to reveal it, unfortunately it will do you no good" he said as he disappeared in the mist.

"Get in formation, and stay back" Kakashi commanded with a slight hint of desperation on his voice. "This isn't a fight in which you can help me."

The mist seemed to get thicker by the minute " Well, who should I kill first?" Zabuza spoke still hidden in the mist "The sweet kunoichi, the pineapple head or the blondie?"

"I won't let you get any of them." Kakashi said as he released his killing intent, freezing his three students in place. Kakashi seemed to noticed it, since he turned around " don't worry, I won't let my comrades die" he finished with his signature eye smile.

"Jejeje, since I can't decide…" the man appeared in between the three genin and Tazuna with his huge sword ready to strike "…I'll kill them all at once!"

Time seemed to freeze as Zabuza prepared to strike them all down with a single movement, however the man wasn't able to move as much as he struggled to move his body. "The hell?" he though as he continued his struggle.

"Looks like you're not so though after all" Kakashi said as he slowly made his way towards him "Good work Shiakamaru".

Zabuza looked at the boy with clear anger on his eyes, and he felt his neck moving pointing him to look down, there he was able to saw his shadow connected to his.

"Huh, fell on a simple trick did I?" he asked

"Yes, and now you die" Kakashi said as he stabbed him on the chest with a kunai.

It appeared a victory, but there was something wrong, Zabuza's body wasn't bleeding, instead water was coming out of the wound, seconds later the whole body turned to water and fell into the ground with a splash.

"A water clone?" Kakashi said turning around to see Zabuza with his sword up in the air, without any chance to react Kakashi was struck down with a single strike to the shock of his student creating a grin on his face, however his victory was short lived as he realized that the body he had just struck down turned too into water, he turned to block two kunai that were flying towards him with ease, and jumped into action swinging his sword towards Kakashi, he managed to deviate the blow with a kunai, forcing the blade into the ground, but Zabuza, being the able swordsman that he was, turned around and kicked Kakashi hard on the side sending him back a few meters, and then grabbing his sword on the other hand preparing for his second strike, however, was unable to do so, since Kakashi disappeared in the mist, he scanned the area for a few seconds and smiled "Way to easy" he walked into the lake and performed several hand signs, from the lake in front of him Kakashi appeared trapped in a sphere made of water, Zabuza holding him, as well as a clone of Zabuza, who started walking towards the three terrified genins.

"Dammit, this is going to be hard" Shikamaru said as he prepared.

Hinata stumbled a few steps back before Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her the confidence she needed; Hinata activated her byakugan as Naruto stepped in front of her.

"Get away!" Kakashi screamed as he punched the interior of the sphere holding him prisoner.

"I'm sorry sensei. " Naruto said as he appeared sever clones behind him " But we won't leave a comrade behind.

Naruto charged at Zabuza's water clone attempting to kick him on the head, the clone easily ducked and responded with an uppercut to the clone who disappeared, he quickly took care of the remaining clones, and turned again to Naruto and his teammates, Naruto charged recklessly at him, who kicked him on the stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs, in a swift movement he sent him flying a good two meters from the ground and as he fell head first into the ground Zabuza hit him on the face sending him back to where his teammates stood.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, clearly worried about the state of his teammate, and helped him up as blood came out from his nose and mouth.

"This is nothing Hinata-chan" said Naruto as he stood up by himself.

"Naruto" Shikamaru said with a bit of worry on his tone "I think I have a plan, but I need some time." As he moved into his thinking position.

Naruto nodded in agreement as he created several hundred shadow clones and charged at Zabuza in an attempt to gain a little time.

Zabuza grinned, at the attempt, it was fun to watch them struggle against him. And Kakashi could only look in desperation as he saw Naruto's clones disappear by the dozen with every swing of Zabuza's massive sword.

Soon only a few clone remained, and Naruto was getting tired, all those clones used quite a bit of his chakra, his few clones lined up and charged at him, yet again, as he prepared to swing his sword he again felt his body get rigid, and gritted his teeth as he noticed that again he had fallen into the boy's trap, he looked at them as he struggled to move but it was to no avail, Naruto's clones ran towards him and to his surprise ran past him by he managed to look into the ground as the shadow that kept him in place, moved trailing the clones to the original Zabuza, unfortunately even despite the clones aid on stretching his shadow, Shikamaru was unable to reach him.

"Aww, you little scheme didn't work" he chucked as he kept Kakashi in place with his jutsu, yet something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, an oversized shuriken flew towards him, while he was somewhat distracted following the shadow Hinata took out of her pack a Shadow Shuriken and threw it at him, he easily caught it with his free hand "Is this everything Konoha's shinobi are capable of?" he asked taunting them as he though he was in the clear when he noticed that, like his water clone was unable to move, he looked around not figuring how he was caught by the shadow binding technique.

"You fell for our trap" Shikamaru said as he breathed heavily due to all the chakra he was using to keep two Zabuzas in place "While you kept all your attention on the first shadow, you overviewed Hinata preparing her shuriken, which you so easily caught" he said as he took another breath.

Zabuza's eyed widened when he figured what had happened. "You used the shadow of the shuriken to extend your shadow." he said as he voice let out a small hint of frustration. He nodded as Naruto threw an explosive tag into the water clone, turning it into a small pool of water, allowing him to release his grip from Naruto's clones whom dispelled.

Zabuza tried to break loose from the problem he was in but he didn't had time to think as he saw Naruto and Hinata already readying their weapons to throw at him, he struggled as he tried to move, and smiled, as he could feel that the binding technique was slowly loosing its grip on him.

Both genins threw their weapons as the mist missing-nin struggled to free himself from the jutsu, just in time as Shikamaru was forced to release the jutsu, and fell to his knees as he breathed heavily; Zabuza got out of the way of the several kunai that were thrown to him and in frustration prepared to throw the Shadow Shuriken he had until his arm was stopped by Kakashi, who wasting no time, kicked him away forcing the shuriken out of his hand and creating some space between the two of them.

Both of them starting performing hand seals at incredible speeds.

Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu. Two whirlpools started forming behind both of them as they slowly started to take the form of two water dragons that clashed against each others as Kakashi and Zabuza too clashed in combat, and as soon as the two dragon were destroyed both of them starting performing hand seal, Kakashi copying not only his hand seals but that he was saying too, this caught Zabuza's attention as he finished his hand seals, but Kakashi was faster as the water in front of him created a huge waved that crashed against him, sending him to land, he hadn't even stood up as he felt a sharp pain on his legs and arms, he leaned on a tree for support as he saw his enemy walking towards him, kunai in hand.

"This is the end" Kakashi whispered to him as he prepared for the killing blow, but someone did it first as two senbon hit Zabuza's neck, killing him, Kakashi looked to the direction they were thrown to see a boy standing on the branch of a tree, he immediately recognized him because of his mask as a Kirigakuge hunter-nin, the boy jumped down and slowly made his approach to Kakashi.

"I will take body with me" said the hunter in a polite tone of voice.

Kakashi nodded and got out of his way; the boy picked Zabuza's dead body and performing a seal with his hand disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

"That was troublesome" Shikamaru said now standing being supported by Naruto and Hinata.

"Th- tha was a Kiri ninja wasn't him?" Hinata ask with her usual low, shy voice.

Kakashi nodded as he pulled down his headband to cover his sharingan. "We need to keep moving, we're almost there."

"You'll be able to get enough rest when we reach my house" Tazuna said with an exited voice.

They started walking again, when Kakashi suddenly felt his energy leaving his body as he fell on one knee, he could feel a pounding on his head as his vision turned blurry, until he finally fainted.

* * *

**Well, this chapter is done, their first encounter with the Demon of the Mist, this next chapters will be a pain to write just cause I'll have figure out how to integrate this team together, although I've to admit is fun to do.**

**I am terribly sorry, as always, for the lousy battle scene I just don't know how to write them, cross your fingers and hope I get bette (I will, eventually)**

**Anyways Rate this chapter and tell me what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

There had been three days since the fight with Zabuza, Kakashi's body due to the prolonged use of his sharingan and the strain of the fight gave out, it was, however nothing a few days of rest wouldn't fix, his body needed time to replenish its chakra and regain energy, until then, he had to stay in bed; he sent word to Konoha, that he needed support of another team, during the wait he just hoped that the Hokage wouldn't sent Gai as support, as much of a great ninja as he was, hearing him give a speech about youth and other nonsense would drive him crazy, instead he got team Kurenai, with her three genin students, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka and Sasuke Uchiha and had asked Kurenai to train them while he recovered.

* * *

An girlish boy sighed as he finished pulling out the last senbon from the large man's neck.

"Uh, I feel like I've been run through by an army." Zabuza said as he slowly sat down massaging his neck.

"Actually, that was me, I had to fake your assassination to save you." the boy said with a smile while removed his equipment.

"Be careful next time." Zabuza said as he moved his neck and groaned as his muscles stretched "that felt all too real."

"I'm sorry, I had to make it look real, I couldn't take any chances" the boy said with a smile still on his face. "You wont be able to move for a week, so don't put too much effort on your body."

At the same time a short fat man entered the room, followed by two muscular goons "So, word has reached my ears that you were defeated by a bunch of kids, maybe your usefulness has reached its end" with a sing of his hand the two goons pulled out their swords and walked towards Zabuza, in a blink the boy twisted their arms pointing each other swords against each other.

"If you even try to touch Zabuza-san I'll kill you" the boy said as he pushed the two men towards the fat man.

"You pushing it Gatou, I'll take care of it, now GET OUT!" Zabuza yelled as a killing intent filled the room.

* * *

Kurenai led the two teams to a small clear on the forest next to a small lake.

"Allright…" Kurenai began "I'm going to teach how to control you chakra properly, when you use a jutsu, you use your chakra, but if you do not have proper control, you'll end up either not casting the jutsu properly or wasting chakra, which will wear you down faster, now, you're going to be doing something easy: climb trees"

"Hell yeah, I'm on it!" Kiba yelled as he ran to a tree, only to stopped by Kurenai by being grabbed by his hood.

"No the usual way" she said as she massaged the temples on both sides of her head "like this" and so she started walking vertically on a nearby tree "see? Like this"

Everyone was really exited to start the new training, except for Sasuke, who didn't seem even fazed by the display.

"Uhm, Kurenai-sensei" Naruto said as he approached the tree and started walking vertically on it, much to everyone's surprise "I uh, already had this training" he said with a smile on his face.

"I see, well then I think I have another training that might help your chakra control, everyone grab a kunai and use it to mark your progress" with that said she and Naruto walked over near the lake. "Okay Naruto, this exercise is similar to the tree climbing, but on water, you need to focus chakra on the soles of your feet to be able to keep yourself from sinking, however, the tension on the water changes, and so you need to keep adjusting how much chakra you use, with practice you'll do it without thinking, come on, give it a try.

Naruto walked slowly towards the edge of the lake, and focus chakra on his feet he gave a few steps on the crystalline water; unfortunately he wasn't able to give more than three steps before sinking, and Kurenai couldn't help to let out a small chuckle as Naruto got out of the water.

"You know it's not cool that you laugh at your student's failures" Naruto said as he removed his shirt and pants, not that it mattered anymore, they were drenched already.

"I'm sorry" she said "Just the look on you face was kind of funny, just keep trying, you'll get better, if you have any questions just ask me" She walked over to check on the others, leaving Naruto alone to practice.

* * *

The passed quickly as everyone did their best to improve their chakra control, Sakura, Shikamaru and Hinata quickly go the hang of the tree climbing and went over were Naruto was, Hinata fainted at the sight of Naruto in underwear and Sakura practically beat him until he put them back on while Shikamaru though how troublesome getting wet would be, once Naruto was properly dressed they woke Hinata to continue their training.

Kiba was having a bit of trouble with the tree climbing but was making good progress.

Sasuke could feel anger coursing through his body, not only he wasn't able to master the training, but he was on the same level of the Inuzuka, he had to be the best, there was no option.

* * *

Back at Tazuna's house Tsunami had cooked a great meal for them, since they had been training all day, Kakashi was already able to move, and was sitting at the table when they arrived, they sat down and started eating, Sasuke just ate bowl after bowl, even faster than Chouji, while everyone else, well, stared at him swallow the food, at least until he ran to the bathroom to empty his stomach, which gained a laugh from most of them at least until he returned.

"You-you shouldn't eat so fast, Sasuke-kun" Hinata said as he dived into another bowl, he only glared at her before continuing.

"Don't waste you breath Hinata, he doesn't listen to anyone." the Inuzuka said earning a glare from the Uchiha.

After dinner Shikamaru went directly to sleep no bothering on taking a bath like the rest did, after the shower, a few screams and a beaten Inuzuka everyone went to sleep, but Naruto for some reason couldn't sleep, the moonlight ilumintated the room he was sharing with the rest of the boys, he got up and trying to be as quiet as possible sneaked out, Kakashi noticed it, but he decided to let him go.

…

"Where the hell is Naruto?" Sakura asked getting worried.

"Maybe he went to the forest to train?" Kakashi suggested shrugging, "You guys go check that out, I'll go with Tazuna-san to the bridge.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, and looked around, did he really fell asleep in the forest? He yawned and stood up, stretching and hearing his bones crack, he was going to walk when something caught his attention on the corner of his eye, there was a girl on pink kimono picking some flowers, he was curious as of what someone would be doing there and walked over to her.

"Uh, Hello" Naruto said as he leaned over her trying to be friendly.

"Oh, hello" she said with a bright smile.

"Oh, uh, my name's Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"Haku, I'm picking some herbs to make medicine for a friend, what were you doing?"

"I…was training late at night, and I think I just fell asleep."

"If you haven't had breakfast yet, you could join me and my friends, you have a lot in common with Sakura and Hinata, I'm sure you girls will get along fine.

"Oh well, I don't know" Haku said "By the way I know I don't look like it, but I'm actually a boy"

Naruto's jaws fell all the way to the ground "A boy!? He's prettier that Sakura, or any other girl he knew"

In the background he started hearing voices calling his name.

"Those are my friends, looks like I got them worried" he said scratching the back of his head with a grin "so what do you say, want to have breakfast?"

"I don think-"

"Come on, it will just be a while" Naruto said not letting him even finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry, I can't" he said.

In the distance Naruto heard his teammates calling his name, he turned his head trying to pinpoint the location it was coming from "Are you su-"

When hi turned his head again Haku wasn't there anymore leaving Naruto alone, he scratched hi head in confusion before going to reunite with his friends.

* * *

"Have you found him Akamaru?" Kiba asked to his ninken as he sniffed the ground and barked. "Good, come on guys"

Soon enough they found Naruto.

"Where the hell have you been, idiot!" Sakura said hitting him on the back of the head.

"Training" he chucked rubbing the back of his head.

"Training?" the Uchiha asked, suddenly interested in the situation.

"How troublesome, only you would train instead of sleep" the Nara said with a yawn.

"W- we should head back now" Hinata suggested.

They head back into the house; just as they were entering they found Kakashi ready to leave with Tazuna to the construction site.

"Feeling better Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Yes Hintata, I must say, you medicinal ointments really do wonders" he said as he reached to his pouch and counted his shuriken.

Hinata gave him a shy smile as he walked past him and sat at the table.

"Kakashi, ready to leave?" Kurenai asked him.

"Yes, actually I was hoping to take some of the genins with me, it might give them some experience."

"I see, well Sakura doing very good at chakra control training, she could go if she wants to." Kurenai said as she too, seated at the table.

Sakura jumped of excitement; she was finally going to do something other than training "Of course I want to go" she half yelled at Kakashi "I'll go get my things" and with that she ran into the room and came back a few minutes later ready to leave.

"Wait" they heard from behind, already knowing whom it was "Why is she going? I'm better than her, I should be the one going" the Uchiha said standing at the doorway.

"You still don't have the proper control of your chakra, Sakura on the other side is one step ahead of in chakra control, she is more suited to go with me than you" Kakashi said with a harsh voice, not liking the tone of the young Uchiha. "Hinata, Naruto, you can come too" he said turning his attention from Sasuke.

"I would like to, but I think I'd rather stay here training" Naruto said as he sat down.

"Okay, how about you Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sighed "How troublesome, but I guess it is better that stay all the day here training, I'll go get my things" he said lazily as he walked to the room.

A few minutes passed, as Hinata and Shikamaru got ready, Tsunami gave them some boxes with food for the day, while the rest of them ate at the table.

As soon as they got ready they left for the construction site.

* * *

"Your body is not ready yet" the boy said to Zabuza who didn't pay attention to his warning as he walked through the room collecting his gear.

"Please, just wait a little longer, two days is not enough." he continued.

"I tell you, I'm fine" Zabuza replied as he grabbed his sword "You too get ready, I will probably need your help keeping the brats occupied.

The boy sighed as he agreed in silence and walked over to the other room to grab his gear.

Both of them got geared in silence, not ten minutes passed before both of them were ready.

"Are you ready?" Zabuza asked, receiving a nod from the boy before he put on his mask.

"I'm going to finish this, now"

* * *

**So here it is, a new chapter, kind of slow, but a great fight is near, I'll do my best to make interesting, the next will probably be the end of The Land of Waves Arc, and into the Chunin Exams, I'm sorry if the chapters seem a little...rushed, also let me know if you find any irregularities so I look into them.**

**Any advice or ideas are always welcome, as well as reviews, they motivate me to keep writing :D**

**I also encourage you to read my other fanfic Tayuya of the Leaf I'm working on a few ideas to continue the story, since I feel it has potential, and I started another story, crossover, maybe you'll see it here soon.**

**Have a nice day**


	9. Chapter 9

"Man, this so boring" Shikamaru said while made his way through the construction site.

"You can always go back and continue your training" Kakashi said paying little attention to the whines of his student.

"I'm fine" he sitting down on a bench.

* * *

The day had gone fine, it was already noon and they hadn't had any incidents, when they left the site to eat, but they were shocked when they found most of the working crew unconscious when they returned.

They were alive and barely wounded, which made relieved Kakashi, but his relieve did not lasted long, because they started to get surrounded by mist, really fast.

"It's the same technique from before" Shikamaru stated getting a kunai from his pouch.

A tall figure started to appear from the mist, followed by a shorter one, Zabuza had his sword drawn, while the shorter man whom had been recognized as the one that "killed" him, drew several sanbon between his fingers.

"It the end of the line Kakashi" Zabuza said pointing his sword at him.

"Hinata, go back to Tazuna's house and warn the others" Kakashi said stepping in front of them and uncovering his sharingan.

She nodded in understanding and ran past them at full speed.

"Haku, take care of the brats" Zabuza said before lunging into Kakashi with a swing of his sword as Haku charged Shikamaru.

* * *

Kakashi deflected the blow with a kunai and spinned his body to kick Zabuza in the chest, sending him a few meter away from him, not giving him time to recover he jumped in the air to kick him again, but he moved out of the way rolling to the side, and running towards Kakashi attempting to cut him in half, he ducked the first blow and tackled Zabuza to the ground, and started hitting him as hard as he could, but he lifted his knees to his chest and pushed Kakashi off him with inhuman force sending him crashing to some crates.

Kakashi stood up quickly to get ready for the next attack, but Zabuza wasn't in sight, getting ready he grabbed another kunai, in a split second Kakashi lifted his arm to block Zabuza's sword, which came flying towards him and deflected it to the side.

Zabuza then appeared in front of him and kicked him on the stomach forcing the air out of his lungs, sending him crashing into a pile of boxes behind him, but ignoring the sharp pain from his back he got back up in stance ready to continue, he blocked Zabuza's punches and kicks, before he, with several long handsprings retrieved his sword, and swung it at him, Kakashi ducked under the sword, dodging it by millimeters, and then charged at him with kunai on both of his hands, sending sparks as they collided repeatedly.

* * *

Haku had Shikamaru against the ropes, his speed surpassed Shikamaru's forcing him to be on the defensive, several sanbon had hit him, but they were nothing grave, Haku charged at him, started on an intense fight, again Haku having the advantage, he was faster and stronger, there was nothing much he could do but to try and defend himself, in a surprising movement the boy grabbed his arm, and threw him against the concrete wall, smashing his head with it, it took him a few moments to get back up, the boy much to his surprise, did not attempt to attack him while he got back up, he took a deep breath before charging at him, he did a round kick but was blocked, and tried to hit him with his other leg, but Haku ducked and gave him an uppercut and before he fell down delivered a volley of punches to the now injured Nara.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to do this" Haku said as he performed several hand signs, the water around them turning into ice spikes and flying towards Shikamaru, who rolled to the side dodging the spikes and jumping towards Haku with a kunai in hand, he blocked with his senbon, and kicked him in the chest, followed by a barrage of senbon that stroked Shikamaru, who was covering his face with his arms, Haku lunged at him, ready to give the killing blow when a shuriken kit him on the mask knocking him back, he turned and saw a the girl who had ran away moments before the battle, a blonde and dark haired boys and a tall red eyed woman.

"Hinata, protect Tazuna-san, Naruto and Sasuke, help Shikamaru, I'l go help Kakashi" Kurenai said as everyone did as instructed.

* * *

Kakashi was relieved to see Kurenai running towards him, that meant Hinata made it, he did not see Sakura and Kiba, which meant they stayed to look after the house, he kept blocking Zabuza's furious strikes, he had been hit on his left arm, and was bleeding heavily, Kurenai wasn't one for close combat, since she specialized on genjutsu, but that might be what he needed.

"Magen:Jubaku Satsu" Zabuza started to feel his body loosing mobility, as trees came out from the floor and started creeping up through his body, he chuckled as he quickly realized he was under genjutsu, and sending a wave of chakra he dispelled it, it was now two against one, he grinned and slashed his sword in a diagonal, trying to hit both of them but when he cut through them he felt a huge shock run through his body as he fell on one knee.

"Electricity clones?" he though as he got back up and tried to regain his breath.

"This will be more interesting than I though"

* * *

Naruto, using his shadow clones tried to his the masked boy, but he was to fast for him, even with the training he had, he dispelled clone after clone with precise hits, Sasuke appeared behind him, and did a kick to the face, with the boy easily blocked, but was surprised when it disappeared in a puff of smoke, before the real one lunged at him with a flying kick, that hit him straight on the chest, sending the masked boy back as he crashed to the concrete wall.

"I guess I have no choice" the boy said as he stood back up "Makyo Hyosho" the water on the ground started freezing around them and mirrors started to form all around them creating a dome the masked boy walked into one of them and replicated himself on every mirror, worrying Naruto and Sasuke who were trapped inside.

"How easy" Sasuke growled "Katon: Gyokakyo no Jutsu" a huge fireball was thrown against the ice mirrors, but to no avail, there was no sign of the mirrors melting or being slightly damaged.

"It's useless, this mirrors are not ordinary, you can't destroy them" the boy said as they was all the copies ready senbon, in a blink a rain of them started falling on them, there was nothing they could do, but wait and see if they could figure out how to get out.

On the outside of the wall Shikamaru was watching trying to formulate a strategy, but he had never seen anything like that before, he thew an explosive tag to the mirror, but Haku came out and deflected it with ease, as it exploded far from his target, Shikamaru gritted his teeth, his friends, or at least Naruto was his friend, were trapped inside being slaughtered and there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Their fight was a stalemate, any jutsu would be countered by Kurenai, while Kakashi managed the physical side of the battle, neither giving any ground, but they were all starting to get tired, they were about to launch another attack when they felt the temperature decreasing, followed by Zabuza's chuckle, they turned around to see an ice dome starting to form around Naruto and Sasuke.

"What is that?" Kurenai said.

"That? Oh that's Haku's Kekkei Genkai, your appretinces are as good as dead"

Zabuza again rushed at them, but Kakashi was tired of that game, he performed several hand signs and lightning started to form on his hand, the clenched his fist and punched the sword breaking it on the middle, but not wihtoug sending a shock to Zabuza, who released his hold of the sword, allowing Kurenai to kicked it out of his grip, and then both of them with a quick looked to each other agree on what to do and kicked Zabuza hard on head, successfully knocking of the ground into the wall.

"We must help them" Kakashi said looking back at the ice dome as he heard the clashing of metal inside.

"Go! I'll hold him off" Kurenai with confidence.

Kakashi was a bit hesitant, Zabuza was a formidable hand to hand combatant, but her eyes were full of determination, he finally nodded and called Hinata to join him as he ran back to were Shikamaru was, hoping that he had some idea of how to counter that hellish technique.

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit" Sasuke growled as he release another fireball into the mirrors.

"I already told you, its useless" the masked boy said as he attacked them again, his weapons sticking into their bodies while there was nothing they could do.

"Why doesn't he just finish us off?" Sasuke said as he picked himself up.

"You one way and me the other?" Naruto said looking at Sasuke, he nodded in agreement as both of them ran in opposite directions.

"I see what you're trying to do, but it won't work" Haku said, he sighed and then threw a volley to Sasuke, hitting him on his legs and back, making fall down on the ground, Naruot tried to help him up, and it was at that time that he was struck on the neck and chest with several projectiles, he tried to stay up, but he was at his limit, and finally he collapsed on the ground.

Sasuke got up and walked over to Naruto, who was loosing blood.

"Hey, get up! Come Naruto" Sasuke yelled at him as he to get him to get up.

"I'm at my limit" Naruto said in a whisper.

"Dammit, I guess this is it" he said in a small chuckle "No, no I won't die now, I can't die now, I will kill you"

Both of them got up and into stance, Naruto was struggling to stay on his feet but he leaned on Sasuke, another volley came their way, much to Haku's surprise they managed to dodge it "Luck" Haku though as he prepared another one, but again they dodged it, and again, and again.

"How-?" he noticed a glow on his eyes as he looked at him.

"Sasuke you..." Naruto said as he struggled to get back up

"I've awakened the sharingan" Sasuke said triumphantly.

"So you too posses a Kekkei Genkai, I'll finish this quickly, this technique uses too much chakra, and there's a limit to my speed, I'll have to be precise" Haku though as he entered another mirror "This attack will be my last"

He prepared to lunge at them, ready to finish the fight when he felt his chakra getting disrupted "what's happening?" he though as he felt himself being pushed out from the mirror as they shattered away.

* * *

"How's the situation?" Kakashi asked as he helped Shikamaru get up.

"They are trapped inside that dome, Hinata use you Byakugan to scan it, the masked boy seemed to have noticed it since a volley of projectiles flew their way, they blocked them as Hinata scanned the mirror.

"There's chakra flowing through the mirrors, and he jumps from one to another, he is very fast." HInata said after dodging more projectiles, one of which hit her on the shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru said.

"Y-yes" she responded as she pulled out the steel needle.

"Did you find anything?" Kakashi asked, getting really impatient.

"If you hit the mirror he is in, that might disrupt the chakra flow, cancelling the jutsu."

"I already tried that, he deflected my explosive tag, and apparently he can also attack to the outside" the Nara as he inspected the dome with care "but, I saw the technique that you used against Zabuza, that was an elemental technique right?" Kakashi nodded "if you can direct all the chakra into one place, that might shatter the mirror, forcing him out…only, he's too fast."

"I'll take care of that." Hinata said stepping forward.

Kakashi nodded in agreement and performed the necessary hand seals for his technique and started to gather chakra into his palm while Hinata followed the movements inside the dome, she could see the masked boy jumping from mirror to mirror at high speeds while Naruto and Sasuke tried to avoid being hit, for the last few sweeps they managed to avoid the projectiles.

"He stopped, upper middle mirror" Hinata said only loud enough for Kakashi to hear, he had his eyes closed, and as soon as she finished talking small arcs of electricity started to appear between his fingers, rapidly turning into chirping arc of electricity, he opened his eyes and charged towards the mirror, jumping and slamming his fingers into the mirror at first it appeared as if nothing happened, but surely, the impact made small cracks in the mirror, cracks that started to grow, the boy was thrown outside of the mirror with force as the other mirrors shattered and turned into water.

* * *

Haku was shocked, to say the least; no one ever had managed to cancel his Demonic Mirror jutsu, not that it mattered too much, his chakra levels were low, he would had been forced to stop the jutsu soon enough, he got up slowly, with heavy sweat under his mask, he didn't even got up when he felt a blunt pain on his side, that sent him a few meter away, again tried to get up and saw Sasuke and Naruto standing beside his companions, he threw several shuriken at them, but they dodge them with ease, he tried to stand, when he finally did, he found himself unable to move, he looked around and saw his shadow connected to the guy he had fought first, Naruto rushed at him and hit him with all the strength he had left crushing his mask and sending him against the concrete wall of the bridge.

Kurenai had been keeping Zabuza at bay, without his sword, and with him already tired of fighting against Kakashi, it hadn't been that had, mostly countering his blows and dodging whatever he threw at him, she notices when the dome disappeared, which meant they had successfully defeated the boy or found a way to dispel his jutsu.

Haku got up in a clumsy fashion, helping himself with the wall, there was blood coming out from his mouth, he looked at the group in front of him.

"You?" Naruto said shocked of recognizing the boy in front of him.

"Naruto, you know him?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded and explained what had happened in the forest when he had left during the night to train.

"Why did you do it?"Naruto asked taking a step forwards and spreading his arms.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I'm but a tool of Zabuza-san, I will do whatever he tells me." he said with a sad smile "It is not that I have anything against you, but now that I failed him, I'm no longer useful, please, kill me."

"With pleasure" Sasuke said stepping forward, kunai in hand.

"Wait" Kakashi said, "I want you to tell me something…who hired you?"

"Gatou" Haku said with a sigh.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, he had heard about him, and stopping these two was not going to stop them, unfortunately, he could only focus on his current mission.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way" Naruto said as Kakashi went through the hand seals and lightning covered his hand, Sasuke only smirked, with his newly activated sharingan he had seen the hand seals for Kakashi's technique, the first of many to come.

"This is the way of the shinobi" Haku said calmly, closing his eyes waiting for the end.

* * *

Zabuza heard everything Haku said while he fought with Kurenai, such loyalty to someone like him, he realized that Haku really deserved better, he saw as Kakashi prepared to kill him, in that moment he used what he had left of chakra to run over him, hoping to stop him.

* * *

The shocked on everyone's face was obvious, especially on Kakashi's, Zabuza had lunged himself between Haku and Kakashi's technique, and his chest had been pierced; Kurenai had ranover to were they were.

"Zabuza…you?" Kakashi said as he pulled his hand out of his body and laid it on the ground.

"Why?" Haku said kneeled beside his body, tears starting to form on his eyes.

"You're not a tool" he said between coughs " you are free to follow your own path, you must live for yourself, I'm sorry I did not deserve you loyalty, Haku…I…"

Those were the last words Zabuza spoke; everyone was in silence, as tears came out from Haku's eyes.

"Well, the Mist Demon is dead at last" they heard from behind "now maybe I will be able to get my objectives done without that useless man getting I the way on every step."

They all turned to see Gatou and a few hundred men, probably mercenaries behind him.

"Gatou" Kakashi said.

"Hehe, unfortunately, I can't let you live, nothing personal, its just good business" he said with a sinister grin.

"How dare you" Naruto said "that man worked for you and this is what you have to say about him!?"

"I couldn't care less about him, he was just a tool for me, just like that boy was to him" Gatous said signaling Haku.

"You bastard" Naruto said as he prepared to rush Gatou, but was stopped, Haku had placed his hand on his shoulder, he had a grim look on his face "Please Naruto-kun, let me handle this"

He walked to were Gatou was, mercenaries positioning themselves around his employer.

"Zabuza wasn't a tool, he picked me up when anyone else would have just left me to die, he helped me and so I swore to help him, I became his tool, and now, I have nothing left, I can just honor his memory…by killing you" Haku release his killing intent, so strong even Kakashi and Kurenai felt how their blood froze, he performed several hand signs and his ice mirrors formed again, this time surrounding Gatou and the men that surrounded him, he entered without rush and the mirrors glowed with a dim blue light, a few minutes passed since he entered, they heard some screams and the sound of clashing metal before he finally came out, and the mirror turned to water, everyone inside was dead, but it appeared that they fought between them rather than fighting against Haku.

He walked towards the group "I'm sorry, about everything" he said before collapsing on the ground.

* * *

Haku opened his eyes slowly, light was hitting his face, his body felt numb, he knew that feeling all to well, chakra exhaustion, he got up from the bed and walked through a small corridors, until he reached the main room, there he saw Naruto and the others.

"You're awake" Kurenai said as she sat on a chair and started to eat.

"I don't understand" Haku said looking at them.

"Since you are not officially a Kiri-nin, and you were fighting for Zabuza, I saw no real reason to kill you" Kakashi said offering him a seat to which he complied.

"What are you going to do now?" Kurenai asked the boy.

"I don't know, I've got nothing now" He said in a sad tone.

"You can come with us back to Konoha" Naruto said exited.

Everyone seemed to agree with the idea since they al smiled and nodded except for Sasuke who didn't looked to pleased with the idea of allowing the guy that almost killed them into their village.

"Haku, you want to come?" Kakashi asked him placing a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded with a smile "Yes, thank you"

* * *

**I liked Haku, so he will live, and with this part finally done I can start the Chunin Exams Arc.**

**Any suggestions or comments will be most appreciated.**

**Have a nice day!**


	10. Chapter 10

"I see…" Hiruzen said as he finished reading Kakashi's report, he took a deep breath from his pipe and looked over to the team.

"And you want to join the village?" he asked to Haku earning a nod from him.

"Well, you're not officially affiliated to Kiri, and your kekkei genkai could be very useful to us in the village, it also says here that you're jonin level… I give you chunin, at least until I' can be sure of were your loyalty lies, you are dismissed." The Kage said turning back to his pile of papers.

After turning in the mission Kakashi gathered them.

"Alright, I think you'll be happy to know that I nominated you to take the chunin exams, you have the rest of the day and tomorrow free, go to this address, get there on time, good luck" he said as he disappeared with Haku.

The team was digesting the news, Naruto smiled in joy, Hinata looked rather nervous, but also happy, while Shikamaru gave his signature troublesome, they chatted for a while before everyone went their own way, Hinata went back to the Hyuga Complex, Shikamaru got lost somewhere, probably sleeping or watching the louds, and Kakashi took Haku to give him a small tour through the village, Naruto in turn headed to his, uh… Anko's apartment, he greeted some people on his way there, it took him about ten minutes to arrive, he entered and was surprised when he found Anko sleeping on the couch half naked, with a half eaten dango stick on her mouth, and several dozen on her chest, he tired his best to hold his chuckle, as he passed besides her, and headed to the bathroom, he really needed a bath, he took his time, as he knew that Anko's naps lasted for hours, and just as he though, when he got out she was still sleeping, he took some covers from the bed room and covered her up, he couldn't believe how someone would just fall asleep like that, but that was her, he just headed to his bedroom and went to sleep.

Anko's eyes opened slowly, she fell asleep on the couch again, she straighten up and stretched her arms over her head, her back cracked as well as her shoulders, but now with the tension released she smiled, she looked over to the covers besides her, and asked herself when he grabbed them, but was distracted by a very nice smell that was coming from the kitchen, she headed over there and was surprised to see Naruto cooking breakfast.

"Naruto, when did you arrive?" Anko asked in surprise.

"Oh, Anko-chan, damn, I wanted to finish this before you woke up, I arrived yesterday, you were asleep and I didn't wanted to wake you up" the blonde said giving her a plate of eggs and bacon.

"It's good to have you back, I missed you" she said as she kissed the blonde's forehead, making him blush slightly.

Both of them ate as Naruto told her about his mission, about their first fight with Zabuza until how Haku agreed to join the village, Anko was impressed, and find it cute how he would get all exited telling her about his fights.

"Well you seem to have had a very, interesting mission" Anko said finishing her coffee. "Now what was that you said about the chunin exams?"

"Kakashi-sensei nominated us for them" he said proudly.

"Good, if everything you tell me is true, then I'm sure you'll have no trouble." Anko said with a grin.

"Anko-chan?"

"What is it Naruto?" she said with a yawn.

"You should put on some clothes" he said with a smile, making her blush, but she took the chase to tease him a bit.

"And why?" she asked as she walked seductively towards him "you like what you see?" she said leaning over the table, revealing a bit of her assets.

Naruto was red, since he obviously didn't expected that "uh, no, I just uh" he mumbled as Anko got her face closer to him making him blush even further and looked up to the ceiling, trying to avoid looking at her breasts, he got up and left the kitchen running, while she laughed behind him.

TWO DAYS LATER

"Man, this is going to be so troublesome" Shikamaru said with a yawn.

"Oh come on man this is going to be awesome" Naruto said exited.

"W- we should be careful though." Hinata said softly as she examined the rest of the people in the room.

"Everything will work out, you'll see" Naruto said as they all sat down, they had arrived in time to the room they were supposed to, after a small genjutsu incident, there were many genin from all the villages, there were also many teams from Konoha, it wasn't long before several chunin arrived and placed them on selected seats, a tall man arrived in front of them "Alright shut up!" he yelled earning the silence of everyone in the room.

"My name is Ibiki Morino, and I'll apply your first test, these are the rules…"

The instructor explained the rules, as soon as he was done, the chunin that accompanied him they sat on the sides, grabbed some notebooks and stood there watching them.

Naruto looked at the questions, the first one was hard, so he decided to look to the second one, and the third one, every question was harder than the previous one, how was he supposed to answer them if he didn't even understood them, how was he supposed to get the answers, he slowly looked around, almost everyone seemed to be having troubles, Sakura seemed to be okay, since he managed to see her writing, Kiba was also doing okay…maybe.

He looked over to Shikamaru, who was a few rows in front of him, he had finished five minutes after they started and fell asleep, while Hinata had used her byakugan to look at the other's exams, getting most of the answers.

"Boy am I screwed" Naruto though as he tried to think of something, and suddenly he felt his body starting to move by its own and he noticed his shadow connected to Shikamaru's, he smiled in relief as he was saved by his teammate, Hinata also seemed to have finished the exam.

After that the rest of the exam went smoothly, several teams were ordered to leave, soon Ibiki asked the last question. And again many teams left the room, after a few minutes of careful observation Ibiki smiled.

"Congratulation, you just passed the first exam." he said with a smile.

"WHAT, what about the last question!" Naruto yelled.

"Take it easy, let me explain myself" he said with a chuckle "That was the most important question of all the exam, to do, or not to do, if you chose not to do it, you and your team failed and you can try next year, but it you choose to do it and failed, you opportunity to become chunin disappears forever, a truly painful choice, but, you chose to do it, regardless of the risk, and that's what makes a shinobi, their ability to make hard choices, now th-"

He was cut off when from the window a woman appeared throwing several kunai to hold the large piece of purple clothing that had her name written on it.

"Alright, I'm the examiner of the second test, Anko Mitarashi, now everyone follow me!" she yelled raising her fist in the air, while everyone sweat dropped.

"Premature entrance…again" Ibiki said showing from behind the cloth, making her blush.

"What happened Ibiki? 26 teams, you made the test too easy didn't you?" she said as she examined the room.

"There are many good candidates this time"

"I'll get rid of at least half of them" she said with a sadistic grin, one that Naruto knew all too well, which make him sweat drop as he though about what her test could be.

And as he feared, they found themselves in front of the Forest of Death, which made him feel both good and bad, he knew the overall layout of the landmark of the forest, which would prove helpful, but he also knew of the many dangers that awaited in there.

Anko explained the rules of the test, and they walked over to retrieve their heaven scroll from one of the chunin in charge of the test and walked of t their assigned gate.

"Alright guys, when the test begin, just follow me, I've been here before I know a good place we can use to formulate a strategy" Naruto said to his teammates.

"What? What do you mean you've been here before, this place is off limits to most people" Shikamaru said curious of how he managed to get inside.

"Well, before the academy I was trained by someone, and we trained here" he said shrugging, hoping that the vague explanation was enough.

"All right, we'll follow your lead" he said with a sight, while Hinata only nodded in agreement.

"Get ready guys, the test is about to begin." he said.

The gates opened and the trio jumped into the dark forest.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter...I really losing the inspiration, but I'll keep posting new chapters, I will try to post at least one every couple of weeks.**

**There you saw the beginning of the pairing, which was...well, meh**

**Have a nice day. :D**


	11. Chapter 11

"All right guys" Naruto said as the team stopped on top of a branch. "It's down there" he said as he pointed to a large tree with a hole on its base.

The tree of them jumped down and approached to their destination, it was a very large tree, it had claw marks on its surface, it looked old and yet, majestic, somehow, they walked towards the opening.

"So, you tell me that you have a stash in there?" Shikamaru said as he signaled Hinata to stay sharp.

"Yup" Naruto responded as he pulled out a large chest from the tree, he opened and his smile faded, there was only some basic utensils and a note in there.

"Sorry kid, I know that you know about this stash I keep, I hope you didn't really expected me to leave there…you did right?"

Naruto sweat dropped before continuing.

"Anyways, I felt kind of mean taking everything, so I left some basic equipment for you in there.

Give it your best.

-Anko"

Naruto sighed as he finished reading the note, pulled out the chest completely, revealing its sad contents.

"This is it?" Shikamaru questioned as he looked over his shoulder.

"Well…we have some basic stuff, and look, we have explosive tags."

"W-well is better than nothing" Hinata said as she walked over to see what was in the chest.

They quickly distributed the contents among each other and returned the chest to its place before moving again

* * *

"We've been moving for three days and we haven't seen a single team, how troublesome" Shikamaru said jumping on another branch.

"It's getting dark, sh-shouldn't we get some place to rest?" Hinata asked.

"Yes" Naruto said stopping and looking around " if we move east we should find a clearing in about 70 met-" He finished as he signaled them to kneel, just below them was another team passing by, judging from their head bands they were from the Grass Country

"What do we do, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, even though he was the unofficial leader of the team, Shikamaru was the brain, he didn't wanted to start a fight they couldn't win.

"Hmmm, we could take them if we play our cards right, but we don't know if they have the heaven scroll we need." He said thoughtfully.

"I think it's worth the risk." he said finally. "Alright, this is what we'll do."

* * *

"Oi Karin, stop slowing us down" yelled one of the grass nin to her companion.

"I swear to God, one of this days I'll-" he stopped as he spotted another team, resting by a tree.

"Hey Kuzo, look over there" he said pointing to the enemy team. "Let's do it." he said with a sadistic smile.

"What do we do?" the girl know as Karin asked.

"You stay back, we don't need you fucking this up." the leader snapped at her pushing her back, making her fall on the ground.

Both of them charged the enemy, weapons in hand, they charged the girl first, since she was the one closer to them, with a quick stroke they slashed her neck, killing her almost instantly, they proceeded to throw several shuriken to the blonde guy who was trying to reach their weapons but was stopped when the shuriken embedded into his back, the boy fell dead instantly, the last one, the black haired boy made a run for it but was stopped when one of the Kusa-nin jumped in front of him and stabbed him on the chest.

After the small "fight" that didn't lasted even a whole minute they started searching them for the scroll they needed.

"Man Konoha's ninja are so lame" The leader said as he pushed aside the dead blonde from the backpack and noticing the forehead protector.

"It was easy" Kuzo laughed as he walked through the enemy camp.

Karin, who had stayed back, as ordered by his "teammates" felt three chakra signatures behind her closing in on her team, she was about to warn them, but she stopped, why would she warn them? They were constantly bothering her, taking credit from things she did, hell she didn't even wanted to participate in the exams, she was forced into it, she decided to wait to see what happened.

* * *

"Now guys, move!" Shikamaru said as Hinata and Naruto approached to the Kusa ninjas.

The bodies of the team they had just defeated disappeared in a puff, taking them by surprise, they were getting ready to another fight, when they found themselves unable to move.

"What's happening!" one of the Kusa nin said as he tried to reach his kunai pouch.

"You fell into our trap" Shikamaru said as he walked towards them.

Naruto in a blink charged the one named Kuzo along with two shadow clones, and easily knocked him out, while Hinata used her gentle fist to close the chakra channels of her enemy, making him loose consciousness.

"Where's the other one?" Shikamaru asked releasing his Shadow Bind Technique.

"She's over there." Hinata said pointing behind Shikamaru, who jumped forward to create space between them.

"Come out!" Naruto yelled as he created a couple more Shadow Clones.

"P-please, I don't want to fight." said Karin as she slowly came out from behind a bush with the heaven scroll tightly around her arms.

"S-she has the scroll." Hinata pointed.

"You can have it." Karin said in a defeated tone as she threw it in their general direction.

"What?" Naruto said "Why?"

"I'm…not a fighter type" she explained, "I have no chance against you even if I tried, so you've won." She finished.

"Okay" Shikamaru said skeptically as he picked up the scroll and headed towards his team no losing her from his sights, they were ready lo leave when they heard Karin calling them.

"Wait, can I go with you?" she said as she adjusted her glasses.

"Why would we do that?" Shikamaru questions as he crossed his arm on his chest.

"Well, uh, you see, I'm a sensor, I could help you avoid other teams."

"Or you could lead us into them" he pointed out.

"I…wouldn't do that" she said shyly.

He stood there thinking, but Naruto interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay, you can come with us" he said with a smile.

"Are you sure about this, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said as she took a step forward "we don't know anything about her." She finished

"Don't worry guys, I'll be okay." he said as he signaled Karin to join them.

* * *

They headed to the direction Naruto had pointed before their small encounter with Karin's team, night had fallen, and they moves swiftly under the light of the moon, until they found a small clearing beside a river, they stopped and made camp under a fallen tree, Naruto and Karin started the watch while the others rested.

It was quiet, expect for the sound of the water running downstream and the cracking of the wood on the fire.

"So, uh, Naruto was it?" Karin said gaining his attention "Why did you let me come with you?"

"Well, I saw the way they treated you" Naruto said as he placed his hand o the back of his head "A team is supposed to help each other out" he said with a small smile as he scratched the back of his head

Karin only smiled at the blonde as she sat on a nearby trunk as she watched the darkness of the forest.

* * *

When the sun came out the team wasted no time in heading to the center of the forest, which proved to be easier than they though, well, mostly because Karin was giving them directions, they would have stumbled into at least five other teams had not been for Karin's amazing sensor abilities, they were amazed by the speed they were able to get to the tower, they entered to a big hall, there was a message on the wall that instructed them to open the scrolls, which they did.

"Hello" said their cyclopean sensei as he appeared from a puff. "I'm glad to see you made it, and you brought a friend" he said noticing Karin's presence.

"The next round wont start until the time limit is over, so you should take this opportunity to rest, or train, you can do a you wish, as long as you don't leave the tower" he said before saying his goodbyes and disappearing leaving his students on the entrance.

* * *

After some days of waiting the rest of the teams arrived, they saw Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke arrived, although he didn't looked too good, Hinata's cousin, Neji and his team arrived shortly after them they still had a day before the exams continued so they left them so they could get enough rest.

The day came, it was time for the final part of the test, and they were gathered in a large arena, where they were aligned with their respective teams, since Karin's team was nowhere to be found she failed on the second test, but was allowed to stay until the end of the exams, she was waiting on the second level of the arena.

The Hokage stepped forward and with a cough he gained the attention of the teams he gave them a long speech about the significance of the chunin exams and the importance of goodwill between the villages and their representatives.

While the Hokage was talking Naruto looked around to see what they were up against, they were all team of Konoha, except for one of Suna and one of Oto.

"I will be the proctor of this preliminary test, my name is Hayate Gekkou" one of the jonin said stepping forward "But before, that, uhm, it seems that we have a larger number than expected cough* cough*" he said as he covered his mouth while coughing "we will have some preliminary rounds to thin the number out cough* but before that, if anyone is not feeling ready or prepared, this is your only chance to quit."

Naruto laughed internally, who would quit after passing those first two test, however a guy with silver hair, which he recognized from the first exam raised his hand and left the arena.

"Okay cough* now, this electronic board will chose the fighters randomly"

"Sasuke Uchiha versus Yoroi Akadou, please step forward, the rest please head upstairs cough*." He said

The fight between them was brief but fast paced; it started with the guy named Yoroi, charging at Sasuke closing distance between them quickly, after several attempts he managed to get a hold of him and slamming him into the floor while he drained his chakra, Sasuke managed to get him off by kicking him on the chest, but he kept charging at him attempting to drain him empty, in one of the attempt he left an opening and Sasuke tried to get him in a submission hold, he succeded but his victory was shot lived as Yoroi grabbed him against and sucked his chakra it seemed the fight was going for Yoroi, but in a final movement Sasuke broke his hold and jumped backwards to create space between them.

With a chuckle Yoroi charged again "This time I'll finish you!" he yelled as he closed on Sasuke, but he ducked and kicked him on the chin sending him flying, he jumped behind and with a powerful kick he crushed him into the arena's floor, knocking him unconscious, he was declared winner, but collapsed shortly after apparently by chakra exhausting, he managed to see Kurenai and Kakashi following him with some medic nins out of the arena.

Zaku Abumi versus Kankuro

Both of them jumped down from the second level, the Oto nin had one of his hands bandaged, while the Sand nin had a large bulk on his back, both of them nodded signaling that they were ready, and so the match began.

Neither of them loose time the Oto nin known as Zaku extended his arm and send a powerful shockwave of air, but Kankuro dodged it as he revealed what he was carrying on his back, it seemed to be a puppet of sorts, and he was controlling it with his chakra, in a blink the puppet threw a volley of kunai and senbon against the oto nin, but he easily deflected them using his arm to send another wave of air.

Kakuro didn't gave him any chance to react as his puppet charged at him viciously trying to hit him with the blades that were hidden on its arm, he dodged them with difficulty, but at the last moment he side stepped out of the way of the puppet and using both of his hands, which surprised most of them since he appeared to be injured, he blasted the puppet into the wall breaking it to pieces.

"Looks like I've won" he said with a cocky smile as he pointed his hollow arms at Kankuro"

Kankuro smiled "No, I just won" as soon as he finished a single senbon flew from one of the destroyed puppet an into Zaku's leg, he grunted slightly as he pulled it out.

"That's all?" he laughed as he threw the senbon aside getting ready to send another blast wave, but he started to feel dizzy, he fell to one knee as he felt his body getting numb.

"Don't tell me…" he said as he tried to stay on his feet.

"Yes, but don't worry, its not lethal, you'll be paralyzed for a few hours, but you should be alright after the effect wears off" he said as he walked over to pick up the pieces of his puppet "Like I said, I won" and with that he walked back to the upper level.

"We must be careful of those guys" Shikamaru said as he pointed to the Suna Team. "They look as if they didn't even entered the forest."

Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"At least we know he uses poison, I think I can make a few remedies for them…in case you guys fight against him." Hinata said shyly with a small blush.

"That would be really helpful, Hinata" Naruto said exited.

Misumi Tsuguri versus Shino Aburame

That fight was short, Misumi tried to hit Shino, and as soon as he was blocked his body twisted all around Shino's body, restraining him, but what he wasn't considering was that Shino's body was full of chakra-devouring insects, they came out and covered Misumi's body, taking away his chakra, and with a single punch he was rendered unconscious by the mysterious Aburame.

The next match was between Sakura and Ino, both of them fought each other giving all they had.

The match dragged for too long, until both of them charged at each other hitting themselves hard, sending both of them in opposite directions, the proctor declared a tie, since both of them were knocked out, as a result neither of them would continue to the next phase.

Gaara versus Chouji Akimichi

"NOOOO!" Chouji yelled as he waved his arms frantically "I forfeit, I forfeit!"

"Uh…alright" Hayate said "Then... let's move on to the next match, Dosu Kinuta versus Rock Lee"

Lee jumped from the second level as he excitedly prepared himself to fight while yelling something about their youthful spirits while Dosu made his way through the stairs until he finally stood in front of Lee.

Hayate signaled both of them to start, immediately Dosu waved his arm in front of him, and was shocked when he noticed no effect on Lee, he did it several times until he got mad and went straight into him with a kunai in hand, Lee dodged the blow without any effort and kicked him on the back.

"How!?" Dosu growled as he stared at Lee.

He simply signaled his ears, he had earplugs in them, and he shrugged as he got into his fighting stance.

Dosu went through several hand signs and hitting the mechanism on his arm he sent a shockwave in Lee's direction. Lee side stepped and ran towards Dosu, he kicked him on the jaw sending him un a few meters from the air, and jumping into the wall he propelled himself into Dosu, he kicked him on the chest sending him into the opposite wall, and before he fell into the floor rushed at him and punched him in the stomach, pinning him even further into the already cracked wall, he fell into the ground and tried to stand back up, but he finally failed as he lost consciousness.

The match of Kiba against Shikamaru was fast paced, but in the end Shikamaru caught them in his Shadow Bind Technique and knocked Kiba out by using the distance between the walls to his advantage.

"Kin Tsuchi versus Temari" Hayate announced.

"Great, another girl fight" Naruto though as both opponents made their way to the arena, however the fight really surprised him, the use of wind element by Temari and the genjutsu of Kin really amazed him, but in the end Temari proved victorious by not allowing Kin to use her senbon by sending them back at her with her big battle fan, slamming her against the wall, repeatedly until finally she didn't got up.

The next fight was against Neji and Hinata, which was sure going to be a good show both possessing the byakugan and being users of the juken, signature-fighting style of the Hyuga Clan.

Hinata, obviously nervous made her way in front of her opponent, who got into stance.

"I won't go easy on you" Neji said as he activated his byakugan "So give your best."

Hinata nodded as she too activated he byakugan and got into stance, the fight had begun.

Naruto cheered for Hinata as she fought, she was determined to win and was fighting giving all she had, however it did not help, since the fight was mostly one sided, Neji was obviously on a different level, with a quick set of hit he knocked her out and returned to the second level while Hinata was dragged away by the medics.

"I should go with her." Kakashi said with a sight "I'll be back as soon as I can" with that he disappeared in a puff.

"Guess you're up Naruto" Shikamaru said as he was the only one that hadn't fought yet.

He nodded and jumped into the arena, his opponent was the girl on Neji's team, and he readied himself for the fight.

As soon as the fight started he realized that it was going to be hard, TenTen was a long-range fighter, and she was constantly jumping around getting good distance between all while she threw a large variety of weapons at him with every jump.

"Dammit" Nartuto though as he dodged another volley of shuriken that were flying towards him."

He created two shadow clones and ran towards her in three different directions, hoping to be able to get her, but it was to no avail, she jumped and opened a large scroll, from it a large ridiculous amount of weaponry came flying towards him, dispelling the clones, while some of the weapons embedded themselves to Naruto's body, he fell hard on the floor and struggled to get up as he pulled out a kunai from his shoulder, but the attack did not stopped there, as he was getting up, yet another volley of weapons approached him.

"Doton: Stone Wall"

He slammed his hand to the ground and a large wall of rock came out blocking the weaponry, TenTen jumped the wall, with a staff in hand and tried to hit Naruto, but he quickly dodged the sword and threw a smoke bomb to the ground, creating a large white smoke screen.

He created several shadow clones and charged her, one slipped from behind, making her loose balance, while other went through the hand seals and slammed his hand to the floor, making a pillar of stone come out of the ground sending her up into the air, two clones jumped into the air, and one of them used the momentum to send the other against her he slammed his fist into her face, while the second one kicked her shortly before she fell into the ground.

The match was over, with Naruto as the winner, she wasn't too hurt, but the medics that were in the arena took her for a checkup

"That's all the fights cough*" Hayate said, "Now the Hokage will explain the third part of the exam."

The Hokage stepped forward with his pipe on his mouth; he smiled at the remaining genin in front of them. "Congratulations to all of you, you've passed to the third exam." he said "Now the real fight begins" he said his face getting serious.

They showed them a chart with the organization of the fights of the third part.

The fights would be as following:

Kankuro versus Naruto

Sasuke versus Shino

Temari versus Shikamaru

Rock Lee versus Neji

The fight against Gaara would be decided with a fight between the winner of the first and second fight.

With that they were al dismissed, Naruto, Shikamaru and Karin headed over to the medical area to check on Hinata, and after that: TRAINING.

* * *

**So this concludes the Second Test and the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams, so the fights will be a little bit different, obviously.**

**Neji is not that big of a douche like in the manga/anime.**

**The fights are just an overview of what happened otherwise it would have taken forever to finish this chapter.**

**Now Karin had been added to the story**

**Now to answer some comments I got on the reviews:**

**To Guest: all this is to prepare the terrain for the pair, the character that did not die cough* Haku will have a roll later on the story, Karin too by the way, so its not just putting them in because I feel like it, although the team being how it is, that's because indeed they are on my favorite character list.**

**To TakaSasuke: Why I portrait Sasuke like that…to keep it simple, because I don't like him, I don't respect him, and he really is a douche, I don't like the cannon Naruto either, but that's a whole other story.**

**I'll tell you right now for those that don't know, the pairing will start after the three-year span that Naruto trained with Ero-sen- er Jiraiya, right now they will be figuring stuff out.**

**Anyways Rate the chapter and tell me what you think about it.**


	12. Chapter 12 - UPDATE

**First of all thanks to everyone that took the time to write a review, even if was only a line.**

**Second, I read my story from the start, and I gotta say, I don't like how it's written (and who's fault is that? huh?) and better yet (yes better than not liking one's story) I lost a big, I mean huge chunk of the fights from the final part of the chunin exams, so…this is what I'm going to do:**

**I'm going to rewrite the story from the beginning, maybe try to work a bit more on descriptions (any help will be greatly appreciated)**

**Try not only to stay focused on the story but maybe improve it or add some other characters (like I've been doing, but well, more :P) and well yeah that's al-, OH! If anyone has any suggestions for the story, or character's personality (not Naruto or Anko, come on, they're the main characters) send me a PM remember, there won't be a chance for that once I re publish the first chapter (yes there will)**

**I will probably change the name of the story too, I'll post another UPDATE on this story when it's up.**

**And I have a question (hoping not to get mocked or crucified by it) but what does OC/OCC means**

**So take y'all and have a good day…or night**


	13. Chapter 13 - UPDATE II

**All right guys, I finally finished the first chapter, I added a few things and checked several other things, it will be posted as a ****The Fox and the Snake.**

**I'll leave this story for another week or so, just so you all see this update and move out to check out the new one before finally removing it.**

**Uh…yeah, well, you know what would be nice? If you gave me ideas for jutsus and techniques (yeah, very smooth XY) but anyways, just do it if you feel like it it could help out on moments of creative blockade.**

**There was another topic that a friend of mine brought to my attention was that I should turn it into a harem story, obviously Anko and Naruto being the main couple, and I was actually considering it, but well, you've read the story, and that really wasn't on my plan, so tell me what you think about it.**

**To be completely honest I really don't mind if it is or not, but I want to know what you think.**

**That's all for now, I'll talk to you guys later. **

**: D**


End file.
